My Garden In June

June in the UK has been a mixed bag of weather to say the least! We've had misty cold February-Like days, scorching sunny days, thunderstorms with or without lightening and back to rain again! Luckily the garden seems to be keen to blossom and bloom as usual, and only certain veggies seem behind in the growing stakes after such a mixed month. My garden is full of easy to maintain plants and shrubs, as I only get a few solid hours of gardening a week now, but most evenings I take a wander to just water, weed and deadhead, as these quick little jobs all make a big difference in the long run. The Rhododendron and Honeysuckle have been bringing the bees in droves, every time I walk past I love hearing their happy hum as they dart in and out of the flowers. My wildflower patch behind the Shepherds Hut is also coming along nicely, the Forget-Me-Nots are spreading throughout, and self seeded Foxgloves and Michaelmas Daisies seem happy in the shady nook too. 

In the borders around the Shepherds Hut I have these delicate little Aquilegia's, which always remind me of fancy ladies hats on raceday! These were plug plants I bought off Ebay, as were the Delphiniums. I would certainly recommend the established nurseries that sell on there, it works out cheaper than from the chain garden centres and I haven't had any damaged in the post yet. The yellow Rose is called 'Chris' and has the most beautiful lush blooms, and smells exactly like those fruit salad sweets you used to get in your pick and mix! I haven't grown Roses in previous years, I am keeping an eye out for any pests, another rose in the garden isn't looking as happy as this one, so I need to investigate.

I felt so privileged to watch my gardens box of Bluetit chicks fly the nest this year! I was outside at just the right time, and I was worried they would be put off by all the noisy builders machinery (we were in the middle of a room refurb!) in the garden, but luckily all seemed to flutter well! The little one who went last was certainly not as strong flyer as the rest, he actually came and sat on the lawn next to me cheeping away all morning! I guarded him from the many neighbourhood cats as long as I could! It's lovely to see them all zooming around the garden now, when I sit in the hut I can hear them chirping in the tree just outside the window. 

The lower part of the garden is still under a revamp, we have taken away two large tree stumps to make way for a new paved path to the greenhouse (never a fun job in the heat) and also removed an old raised bed to make room for a new improved model! I am growing mostly salad crops in the raised beds this year, and some varieties of Kale. But it's not looking a great year for beans for me, half of mine were eaten despite me putting organic pellets down! Those slugs must parachute onto the leaves! I am quite happy to just potter around and maintain the garden for the rest of the summer, I am more naturalistic in my approach now, it can just get on with growing! 

What projects are you undertaking in the garden this summer? Any surprise successes or indeed, failures? I have an unbelievable amount of apples on my tree this year after only a couple last year, you can't ever predict it! 

Thank you for popping by,

Katie 

Blossom, Bluebells and Beans!

"The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day.
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You're one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
a cloud come over the sunlit arch,
And wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you're two months back in the middle of March."

-  Robert Frost, Two Tramps in Mud Time, 1926 

April arrived in a blaze of sunshine and colour, but seems to be leaving rather grey and chilly - let's hope it's back on track very soon! The warmer spring has brought out so much beautiful blossom this year, it's been lovely spotting it whilst on walks, but also in my own garden as my little apple and pear trees have come into bloom. Last year I only got one pear off my tree, so I am hoping it'll be a more successful harvest this year!

Elsewhere, the bluebells have suddenly sprung, sadly we have the spanish variety around my area, but I am still very pleased to spot the first few flowers, nothing heralds late spring more to me than a carpet of bluebells in woods.

My greenhouse seedlings are finally beginning to show up, mange tout, yellow and purple dwarf beans, squash and courgettes - as I inherited my seed box and the contents are all at least 3 years out of date, I never assume I'll get anything! ;) My raised beds are full of salad seedlings which I'm trying to protect from the snails and mice, it really doesn't come easy this 'grow your own' lark!

All fingers and toes crossed for this coming May Bank Holiday weekend then! I actually have a long weekend off work which is very good news, hopefully i'll be outside for some of it, otherwise being tucked up with Sky Movies will do me fine - wishing you a good one too!

Katie x

Springtime In The Garden

How lucky have we been this April? I could barely believe it when it reached over 20 degrees on my day off last week, so happy to head out into the garden and soak up some much needed rays. This time of year is such a sudden rush of activity in the garden! I had two large raised beds to prepare and plant up, and also the flower beds around the shepherds hut which were a mass of weeds. My garden is on heavy clay soil and can flood over the winter so I don't carry out a lot of work unnecessarily as it damages the lawn, which means I have a lot to crack on with when spring appears!

This year I am focusing on growing mostly cut-and-come-again crops, and wild flowers that will self seed - being busier these days I need a less high maintenance gardening approach! I would also like to add some cheerful accents into the garden - I plan to paint flower pots in happy summery colours and patterns, and tidy up the seating area to relax in the sun - here is my current inspiration:

Spring Garden Inspiration by longmaysherain featuring wood wall art

Lisa Perrin for the Hudson Valley Seed Library Herb Seed Variety, £12 / Home garden, £15 / Outdoor patio furniture, £33 / Garden Trading wood wall art, £12 / Ray-Ban sunglasses, £115

I haven't used Polyvore for five years so I'm a bit rusty - I do enjoy making these mood boards so I might try some out over the next few blog posts!

Meanwhile, I was invited to take part in a little photo challenge on Instagram - three days, three photos from the borders in my garden. Ignoring all the weeds, I managed to compete with these tulips, hellebores and the twisted willows featured further down the page. I can find tulips quite disappointing as they can get hit by pests or just flop over after one rain shower, but this year they aren't doing too badly!

This gorgeous little magnolia tree was from my Grandparents garden, despite being in a small pot it's very happy in the oriental part of the garden, and I always look forward to it flowering. I love the spiky, graphic branches against the delicate blossom, I can see why it's such a firm favourite in spring.

This is how the shepherds hut is looking at the moment, the ladder is a little bare because I cleared the pots of spring bulbs, but in the beds the delphiniums and lupins are looking happy. Mollie loves a bit of sunbathing, that spot by the steps is her favourite! I've now scattered a selection of Sarah Raven wildflower seeds, cosmos and poppies around the hut so I'm looking forward to having a more natural spread of flowers against the more statuesque delphiniums.

My mood board in the hut is full of the joys of spring, it's to inspire my scrapbooking and paper crafting which I need to get on the blog very soon. These lovely twisted willows were from the reduced trolley in Homebase two years ago, they are growing up nicely and are a great way to cheaply fill a difficult space, I highly recommend! 

Have you been out in the garden too? What projects have you got in mind?

Hope you are able to catch some of the sunshine this week, as there are rumours it's not going to last, but positive thinking!

Thanks for reading,

Katie

In The Garden July/August

Summer is the time we can actually sit back and see where all our effort during those cold spring days went....until we have to get back to work picking and harvesting of course! I am very pleased with the range of flowers I managed to grow from seed this year, my garden has been mostly shrubs and potted flowers until this year, and I was testing what can survive in our clay soil - turn out, quite a lot of lovely things! The Ladybird Poppies (above) are my favourite of the whole season, unlike the other poppies I grew, these flowers have lasted weeks rather than days, and can survive both scorching heat and pelting rain without looking battered, bonus!

This beautiful mix below is Sarah Ravens 'Jewel Cut Flower Meadow Mix' which does indeed remind me of a stained glass panel when the sun shines through the variety of colours, heights and textures featured: Atriplex hortensis 'Rubra', Linaria maroccana 'Sweeties', Eschscholzia californica 'Orange King', Bupleurum rotundifolium 'Griffithii', Cerinthe major 'Purpurascens', Linum grandiflorum 'Rubrum' 

Cerinthe major 'Purpurascens' also known as Honeywort is already a firm favourite of mine, the foliage is such an unusual shape and tone, and the bees absolutely LOVE IT! I recommend you give this plant a try next year, very quick to grow and looks lovely when the delicate flowers bob in the breeze.

The Autumn Sarah Raven catalogue has just arrived so I'm already plotting what other delights I can order for next year, but also doing well now are these wonderfully graceful Salvias  and dwarf Lupins, that I brought as plug plants from Ebay as I was too late in getting them started myself. I highly recommend buying plugs from the several large nurseries on Ebay, all my purchased preformed well and arrived in a matter of days.

These poppies sprung up almost overnight, but didn't stay as long as the Ladybird variety, luckily the seedheads are just as beautifull! I really want this area to florish as a wild part of the garden perfect for insects and little creatures, a step in the right direction! I was also pleased to be chicken-sitting again, I loved popping over to see them every morning and pick up the still warm eggs, such happy girls!

This year is surprisingly, my first ever attempt at growing tomatoes. Firstly because I haven't really been a fan of eating them until recently (working on that!) and secondly I was lacking a greenhouse until this year, so far so good! I really love the smell they give the greenhouse, something very nostalgic and fresh about it - reminds me of visiting my Grandads greenhouse when I was little, pressing my nose up against the glass to see what treasures were growing inside!

Sweetcorn and squash doing well, but I fear I won't be growing a huge pumpkin this year, might get a few squashes if I'm lucky, ever the optimist! This beautiful Greyhound below is Lily, a neighbours dog I was looking after this week, the most calm, loving and soppy girl! She is a rescue dog (can't believe her first owner could ever let her go!) and is usually nervous around other dogs BUT her and Mollie are now firm friends. I think the last photograph of Mollie should be on a holiday postcard, believe it or not she's not on her holidays in Asia, just in the oriental part of the garden ;) Hard to believe I know!

Hope you had a lovely August bank holiday!

Katie

September Sunflowers

"Ah! sunflower, weary of time, 

Who countest the steps of the sun,

Seeking after that sweet golden clime 

Where the traveller’s journey is done"

William Blake

There's been lots going on in the garden these last few weeks, we've been making the most of the beautiful autumn sunshine! Sunflowers are particularly precious to us right now, providing a friendly face in the garden - and also featuring in Dad's very special arrangement last week.

Hope you've been out enjoying this glorious September too!

Katie

Flowers and other details/Charmouth 2012